Oakbrook Prep, Spartanburg Christian enjoy local rivalry on gridiron

Thursday

Sep 5, 2019 at 6:56 PM

Oakbrook Prep and Spartanburg Christian will see something that they’re not entirely used to across the line of scrimmage on Friday.

They’ll see a team that looks like them.

The county’s only two SCISA football squads are often undermanned and frequently far away from home, as their region opponents are scattered across the state. That goes out the window on Friday, when the Warriors will host the Knights at the Upward Star Center.

“I think it’s great to have somebody you can maybe share ‘best practices’ with,” SCA coach Sean Rogers said. “(Oakbrook) Coach (Jimmy) Staton has been in the area a long time, and it’s great to have him over there. I’ve said for a long time that when football is big at Oakbrook, that helps us. You have kids who want to be a part of things. We have the biggest middle school program we’ve ever had, and he’s growing their middle school program. It’s good to kind of be able to share and commiserate about some of the things that larger schools can’t understand, and share the unique opportunities we have, too.”

Staton sees the matchup from the same perspective.

“It’s pretty awesome, especially for the community,” he said. “Our overall struggle is in our number of athletes, and they see that, too. It does make a difference. Playing against a like-constructed team will give us an opportunity to see where we are. Plus, they’re a great team and a great group of guys.”

Make no mistake, though, the schools do share a rivalry. While the football teams are in separate classifications, all other teams at the two schools compete against each other in region action.

“It’s a good, healthy rivalry, and it helps drive awareness of our schools and our programs,” Staton said. “I think it lets people see some of the different levels of what we’re trying to do at our schools, and what we can offer.”

“It’s great for us,” Rogers agreed. “The kids know each other. They compete with each other across the board. It’s a great rivalry and a fun game, and our kids and campus all get excited. It’s not just the players.”

On the field, the teams couldn’t be much different. Oakbrook runs a spread attack, with SCA based out of a run-heavy option look. Both coaches said those differences will present challenges.

“They’ll try to spread us out and hit us with a lot of quick-game passing,” Rogers said. “They get rid of the ball quickly and try to get their playmakers in space. We’ll have to tackle well defensively. Offensively, we have to be true to who we are. They’ll be disciplined and well-coached, and we’ve got to understand what we do and believe in our system and understand the reality of what we do. A play that’s stuffed on first down or second down might go for a big gain next time. Our kids have bought into that, and I’ve been really pleased.”

Staton said protecting the ball and playing disciplined would be key for his team.

“We’re very young, and we’ve got to learn how to protect the ball,” he said. “We’ve had seven turnovers in our first two games, and a lot of that has just been rep work that we’ve cleaned up. We have everybody ready to go and healthy, so that’s good for us. Offensively, we have to stay on the field and try to control the ball. Defensively, we have to try to control their quarterback (Palmer Thompson). He runs that offense well, and in my view, he’s also one of the best defensive players in the state. We have to keep him hemmed up, and we have to try to get them out of their game and make them throw it, and then protect against it when they do that.”

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